What it is: a dual biography of two different yet equally important world leaders -- Vladimir Lenin and Woodrow Wilson -- and how their actions at the outset of World War I had long-lasting geopolitical effects.

Why you might like it: Historian Arthur Herman’s unusual pairing provides a fresh look at a pivotal moment in world history.

Further reading: Check out March 1917 by Will England for another study of this critical period, or try Herman’s Gandhi and Churchill for another dual biography of world leaders.

What it is: Journalist and former ER doctor Jeanne Lenzer goes behind the scenes of the medical device industry, a secretive world marked by cover-ups, regulatory failures, corruption, and corporate greed.

Why it’s significant: This is the first book to probe the underbelly of the industry that provides us with pacemakers, artificial hips, and other implants; additionally, medical interventions are a leading cause of death in the United States.

Further reading: If you like riveting, eye-opening investigative journalism into medical ethics, check out A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr and America’s Bitter Pill by Steven Brill.

What it's about: Author Elaine Tyler May argues that the current American political climate can be traced back to fearful citizens who have embraced personal security (gun ownership, gated communities, and socially isolated lifestyles) – despite the fact that crime rates continue to trend downward.

Why you should read it: This thought-provoking and sobering book not only attempts to explain our polarized world but also warns of the potentially lasting effects of these divisions on American society.

What it is: a detailed examination of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s last three months in office, including his fierce determination to establish the United Nations and his journey to the Soviet Union for the Yalta Conference.

What sets it apart: FDR’s first 100 days have been examined extensively by other presidential historians; in a new and refreshing contrast, The Last 100 Days argues that, despite his failing health, the end of Roosevelt’s presidency was just as important as the beginning.

What it is: This final volume in historian David Brion Davis’ penetrating three-part chronicle of slavery and emancipation in the Western world covers topics ranging from the Haitian Revolution to U.S. efforts at colonizing freed people.

Why you should read it: Published to critical acclaim, this magisterial history won the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Cundill Prize for Historical Literature.

What it is: a sweeping history of ghettos, from 16th-century Venice to Nazi Europe to black inner-city America in the 21st century.

Read it for: Princeton sociologist Mitchell Duneier’s argument that a history of the physical spaces that have segregated groups since at least the Middle Ages should inform our understanding of current-day race relations and poverty in the United States.

Book buzz: This “timely and important” book was a New York Times Notable Book in 2016.

What it is: aPulitzer Prize-winning historian's enthralling chronicle of the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from bondage in the South and also protected free blacks in the North.

What sets it apart: Author Eric Foner provides gripping accounts of death-defying journeys to freedom, including that of Winnie Patsy, who survived by hiding in a dark, unventilated crawl space with her daughter for five months in Virginia.

What it is: a chronicle of African Americans’ distinguished military service and the long struggle to desegregate the U.S. Armed Forces.

Why you might like it: Author Rawn James’ coverage is expansive -- covering nearly five centuries -- and also inspiring, touching on everything from black participation in the Revolutionary War to the long years of protests and legal maneuvering that finally culminated in President Truman’s Executive Order 9981 in 1948.

What it is: U.S. Congressman and activist John Lewis’ stirring memoir of his experiences in the civil rights era from 1963-65, co-written with Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell.

What sets it apart: A living icon who participated in key moments in the movement, John Lewis’ firsthand account -- beginning with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church -- is unflinchingly honest and deeply moving.

Further reading: For more about the civil rights movement and its leaders, check out Taylor Branch’s At Canaan’s Edge.